Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andrew Joseph

An umpire actually got ejected after a heated argument with a player in a Frontier League game

We’ve seen some absolutely wild ejections in independent baseball leagues over the years, but Sunday’s Frontier League game between the New York Boulders and Tri-City ValleyCats might’ve had itself a baseball first:

An umpire was ejected.

According to The Times Union, first base umpire Warren Nicholson was removed from the game in the first inning after a fiery argument with Boulders second baseman Tucker Nathans. The entire altercation started when the Tri-City dugout accused the Boulders of illegally using outfield cameras to steal signs. Nicholson apparently told the Boulders dugout to remove the league-permitted tablets from their bench area, and that set Nathans off in an argument.

Nathans was ejected, and at one point, Nicholson made contact with the New York player, which led to the umpire getting ejected as well.

Check it out

The broadcast showed Nicholson leaving the field through an opened gate in the outfield. An umpire should never make contact with a player. Like, that simply cannot happen.

The game would actually get delayed for an hour as the stadium crew removed a camera from center field.

It really was a whole ordeal, via The Times Union:

“Your manager in Tri-City has been accusing us of stealing signs for three days, which is offensive and embarrassing at the same time,” Boulders team president Shawn Reilly said. “The umpire went over based on Pete and he threw (Nathans) out and things got out of control. It’s unfortunate. It was not a good moment for the league. It was an embarrassing moment and it should never have happened.”

Reilly would also claim that the camera had a 30-second delay, making it impossible to steal signs with a 15-second pitch clock.

The Frontier League — which is a partner league of MLB — hadn’t commented on the incident, but fans were stunned to see an umpire get ejected.

This was how Twitter reacted

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.